Sudanese security cracks down on pro-opposition students
May 13, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) has carried out a massive arrest campaign against pro-opposition students amid escalating violence at the University of Khartoum (UofK).
The detainees support the sit-ins organised by the UofK students which led to bloody confrontations last week following attempts made by the ruling National Congress Party’s (NCP) students to disperse them by force.
The NCP students attacked their protesting peers at the main campus and Shambat campus using bladed weapons. The government authorities failed to respond to repeated appeals by students to interfere and protect the university.
On Monday, UofK’s Council of Deans suspended classes in most of the university faculties until security and stability could be restored.
The faculty of commerce at al-Neelain University (AU) also witnessed violent confrontations on Tuesday following attacks by pro-NCP students against students belonging to the Arab Ba’ath Party (ABP).
The attackers used stones, Molotov cocktails, and petrol bombs which led to two injuries among students.
In a statement released on Tuesday, RNP students threatened to take to the streets if the university administration doesn’t respond to their demands, including a review of the decision to suspend classes, the release of detainees and revealing the results of an investigation into the killing of student Ali Abakar.
Abakar, a third year student at the Faculty of Economics, was shot dead last March when security forces and the police entered the campus, using tear gas and live bullets to disperse a demonstration organised by Darfur students at UofK.
The RNP further said that security and police surrounded students hostels on Tuesday morning, noting the decision to suspend classes was aimed at weakening students’ resolve and failing their cause.
(ST)